fabric and yarn beads: update

I made another three-strand wrap-around necklace with my straw beads and rather like the effect of making them a bit chubbier and more shapely! I used some pink and purple DK acrylic yarn for the first layer of wrapping, which fattens them up nicely, then just a few strands of lime green embroidery cotton on top.

Just thought I’d share because I see there have been a lot of visits to my etsy store, so I added these pics to the tutorial as well :) In case you haven’t gotten around to looking yet, the listing is here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1115954156/tutorial-necklace-with-handmade-fabric

Yes, I know, this is a bit of flagrant self-promotion, but you gotta try your best, right?

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fabric bead necklace : make it yourself!

I’ve been quiet on social media lately, trying to cut down on the amount of time on which my brain is exposed to the world’s hogwash. It’s not all hogwash, I know, but I get sidetracked very easily so I try to stick to crochet pages and news sites (and have limited the latter to precisely two, because my view is that it’s almost impossible to tell who is telling the truth these days anyway). It’s all just become overwhelming and I’m sick of it.

I’ve been spending my creative time on fabric beads and crocheting another Granny Go Round jersey, and trying to get back into my books in the evenings instead of too much netflix or britbox (although I have to say I’m hooked right now on The Bay – those west Lancashire accents take me right back! I love them).

And I’ve also spent some time writing up a tutorial on making fabric beads from straws and using them in a necklace. It’s available on etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1115954156 and is priced at US$4 (the equivalent of South African R65). My friend Kathryn proofed it for me and made some very useful suggestions. I make these beads all the time now and find it both enjoyable and relaxing, and of course it’s a brilliant stashbuster for fabric scraps as well as threads.

I’d be delighted if you took a look :)

Testing times

Not crochet this time, but a lot of fun if you like beads and threads and fiddling around with bits of scrap fabric. I’ve written up instructions on how to make a necklace with fabric and handmade beads – and a couple of testers would be very helpful at this stage.

Once you’ve assembled all the necessary materials, it’s a relatively quick make. I think two testers would be sufficient – if anyone wants to put their hand up, please email me at jamtartssa@gmail.com and I’ll send you the pdf. Thanks in advance!

ScrapHappy October 2021

I have more than one project on the go at the same time, as most of us do – it’s a blessing and a curse, isn’t it?! Sometimes it’s good to switch from machine-sewing to crocheting, for instance, or from beading to hand-stitching, but sometimes my brain wants to work on all the things at once. Result = chaotic mind (not to mention work space). I’m trying to focus on one thing at a time, make lists, plan my days, be more productive.

In the meantime, here’s my contribution to this month’s ScrapHappy initiative. I needed to shorten a jumpsuit (why are they called that? no jumping is going to happen around here, that’s for certain!) so I kept the pieces I chopped off from the bottom of each leg and turned them into little balls of fabric-stuffed beads and made them up into a necklace.

It was a bit overcast when I took these pics, my apologies. Over the last 30 years I’ve built up a goodly collection of embroidery and crochet threads, so they’re perfect for the wrapping part.

ScrapHappy is hosted by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden; it’s a day for showing something made from scraps every month. Here are the links for everyone who joins from time to time:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Bekki, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear, Carol,
Preeti, Edith, Debbierose and Esther

ScrapHappy July 2021

I realised I needed to get out of the house this morning after I’d managed to do my head in with distress, so picked up a large take-away cappuccino from Jack’s round the corner and headed to Arderne Gardens. It’s ridiculous that it’s a mere five minutes from where I live and yet the last time I went there was over three years ago. Today Cape Town enjoyed a break from the winter rains and the sun even came out a little.

Established in 1845, and filled with a wonderful mix of indigenous plants and some beauties from other countries, I used to take Alex there often when she was little. We’d look for fairies in the huge Morton Bay fig trees and feed the ducks and koi.

But this is ScrapHappy so let me move on. I’ve been making necklaces with little stuffed balls of fabric and having a lot of fun. There’s a lot of inspiration on instagram and pinterest, but I decided not to look at too many images and just made it up as I went along. My circles of fabric are 6.5cm in diameter and they are stuffed with remnants of tapestry wools, other fabric scraps, and even some bits of the compressed cotton that originally formed part of the cast on my left hand and wrist.

Mixing in some beads and buttons and ribbon and thread were part of the experiment. It’s a great way to use up small leftovers of fabric, and heaven knows I have a lot of those.

ScrapHappy is hosted by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden. Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time: Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn,  Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Claire, Jan, Karen,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon
and Hayley